The description relates to information management.
When a user wishes to find the phone number of a specific business, the user can employ an information retrieval system (e.g., the user can dial 411 to speak with an operator). The information retrieval system (e.g., the operator) may ask the caller the name of the business and the city and state where the business is located. A search is then performed based on the user input and a reply is forwarded to the user with the requested phone number. An automated 411 directory assistance system can have an automated voice response system that interacts with the caller in a way that mimics the manner in which a human operator would interact with a caller. A conventional automated system includes a speech recognition engine that recognizes the caller's speech input. The automated system includes a search engine that searches a database for the phone number of the specific business requested by the caller. If the speech recognition engine cannot recognize the caller's speech input, the recognition engine may ask the caller to repeat the input, ask the caller disambiguating questions, or transfer the call to a human operator.